Welcome to Unveiled Faces, a Redeemer Presbyterian Church podcast. Please enjoy our feature presentation. What are the essential nouns that you associate with Christmas? A noun is a person, place, or thing. And so the question is asking, what are the essential people, or who are the essential people, what are the essential places, and what are the essential things that you associate with Christmas? Believers and unbelievers are going to answer this question much differently. Who are the essential people you associate with Christmas? The believer will likely answer Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. The unbeliever will likely enter Santa Claus, the Grinch, and Ebenezer Scrooge. What are the essential places you associate with Christmas? The believer will likely enter Bethlehem, the stable, the field where the shepherds were watching by night. The unbeliever will likely answer the North Pole, department stores, and sitting beside the fireplace at grandma's house. And what are the essential things that you associate with Christmas? The believer will likely answer the incarnation, redemption, reconciliation, peace, glad tidings of great joy. The unbeliever will likely answer the Christmas tree, the lights, the reindeer, mistletoe, the inflatable snowman in the front yard, and of course, stockings and presents. And this is not to suggest that believers never celebrate Christmas by decorating a tree or giving presents or sitting beside the fireplace at grandma's house. I'm sure many believers have these nouns as part of their regular Christmas celebrations, but they are not the essential nouns of Christmas. The question asked, what are the essential nouns? So for the believer, the Christmas tree is never more essential than the incarnation. The department store is never more essential than Bethlehem. And Santa Claus is never more essential than Jesus. Believers, therefore, often celebrate Christmas with some of the same nouns that unbelievers consider essential, but believers do not attribute the same level of importance to those nouns. Which is to say, believers can experience a genuinely satisfying Christmas celebration without Santa Claus, without the snowman in the front yard, without hearing that every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings. And the same is true in the other direction. Unbelievers will often celebrate Christmas with some of the same nouns that believers consider essential. For example, joy is an essential noun for believers. Well, unbelievers, they want joy to be part of their Christmas celebrations as well. They don't want squabbles over politics to ruin the Christmas dinner. They don't want the crazy uncle to get drunk and make a scene during their Christmas celebration. Unbelievers want Christmas to be a time of joy. And even though believers and unbelievers both want joy to be part of their Christmas, we need to define what is meant by joy. More specifically, we need to define what the joy is established in, or what it's derived from. Unbelievers are looking to derive joy from spending quality time with family and friends during Christmas. It's joy which is established in family traditions, eating good food, exchanging thoughtful gifts, and having a pleasant time together. While believers enjoy these same activities, the essence of the believer's joy is established in something far greater than these things. For the believer, joy is established in the glad tidings of joy that the angels declared to the shepherds. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. The believer's joy, therefore, is in that long-expected Jesus who has come to save his people from their sins. That's where our joy is found. Now, there's an interesting point of application to all of this. And because the believer's Christmas joy is derived from his relationship with Jesus, the believer can experience this joy even when the circumstances of his life are not ideal. Even when the circumstances of life are not ideal. And so if the Christmas dinner blows up because family members are debating politics, or if the crazy uncle gets drunk and makes a scene, those unpleasant circumstances will not steal the believer's joy because his joy does not depend upon the good behavior of his family and friends. The believer's joy is established in the finished work of Jesus Christ. So he can have joy even when the circumstances around him are unpleasant. I highlight this point because it illustrates a point that Peter is making in our sermon text. Speaking about believers, he says that we rejoice greatly even though we are presently grieved by various trials. Look at verse six. In this, you greatly rejoiced, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. Now Peter uses the word various here, and this is a notable word that he's using. In Greek it means many different colors. Many different colors. And so what Peter is literally saying or writing here is that believers experience trials that come in many different colors. And it isn't very difficult for us to understand what he means by this because we have a similar idiom in English. If we wanna say that we experience a wide variety of trials, we can say that our trials come in every stripe, shape, and color. Also, the point Peter is making here is that there is a lot of variation in the trials that we experience in life. The trials I experience might not be the same trials that you experience. And the trials that you experience today may not be the same trials you'll be experiencing in the next stage of your life. As believers, we experience trials of many different colors. And Peter says that these trials grieve us. They grieve us. So some believers are grieved because of financial trials. Some believers are grieved because of physical health trials. Some believers are grieved because of mental health trials. Some grieve because of trials in their marriage. Some grieve because of wayward children. Some grieve because of difficult in-laws. Some grieve because of oppressive employers. Some grieve because they haven't been able to gain victory over a besetting sin. Some grieve because they're lonely or they're anxious or they've been rejected by their peers. We all have trials. We all have trials because we live in a fallen world that's groaning under the curse of sin. We are all grieved by various trials. What are your trials? What's been grieving your heart lately? Are you experiencing the burden of some difficult circumstance or person or condition? When Peter says that believers are grieved by various trials, there's nothing surprising about that statement. It's not surprising because our experiences in this fallen world have already taught us that pain and difficulty and suffering are an unavoidable part of life. What is surprising, however, is that Peter says we greatly rejoice while we are grieving, being grieved by these various trials. And this is surprising, at least to some people, because Many just automatically assume that joy and suffering cannot both be experienced at the same time. It's assumed that the presence of suffering destroys any possibility of experiencing joy. But that depends upon what your joy is established in, like the essential nouns of Christmas, right? If joy is established in having a pleasant family gathering, then unpleasant circumstances are going to steal that joy from you. But if your joy is established in the Savior who is born in the city of David, then unpleasant circumstances are not able to steal that joy from you. Peter is applying this principle to the various trials of life. He's saying that if your joy is established in the person and work of Jesus, then you'll be able to rejoice even while you are being grieved by various trials. And it's not just Peter who applies this principle to suffering. So does the Apostle Paul. In Colossians 1.24, Paul says that he rejoices in his sufferings. Here again, you have those two, you have both joy and suffering together in one person at the same time. Paul says he rejoices in his suffering. In 2 Corinthians 7, 4, he writes, I am exceedingly joyful in all of our tribulation. and the apostle James. He agrees with Peter and Paul in this regard. At the very beginning of James' epistle, he instructs believers to count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. And so the God-breathed writings of these three apostles Give us sufficient testimony that believers are able to experience genuine joy while at the same time grieving under the various trials of this life. We must conclude, therefore, that joy and suffering are not mutually exclusive. We can experience both at the same time. And of course, we need to remember that the joy the three apostles are describing is the joy that's established in Jesus Christ. If your joy is derived from having a lot of money in your bank or being able to travel, or having a perfect marriage, or climbing the corporate ladder. If your joy is established in anything other than Jesus Christ, then there are many trials in life that will rob you of your joy. It'll threaten your joy. It'll steal that joy. It'll diminish and eliminate your joy. But if your joy is in the person of Jesus Christ, then regardless of the nature of the trials that you're grieving, Those trials cannot change the fact that Jesus was born in the city of David in order that he might save his people from their sins. So your joy will be able to remain intact if it's in Jesus Christ. Your joy will remain intact even when the circumstances of your life are characterized by grief and suffering. Look at verse four of our sermon text. Peter uses the word inheritance to describe everything that Jesus has secured for believers. Peter says that this inheritance is incorruptible, it's undefiled, and it won't fade away. He says it won't fade away because it's reserved for us in heaven and kept by the power of God. We ourselves are kept by the power of God. So everything you have in Jesus Christ, everything, every benefit that he has accrued for you, has been given to you by the grace of God and preserved for you by the power of God. That's the truth which is being proclaimed in our sermon text. Everything you have in Christ Jesus has been given to you by the grace of God and is preserved for you by the power of God. And this truth is why we can rejoice in the midst of our trials. It's because your joy is established in the inheritance you have in Jesus Christ. And that inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, will not fade away, and is preserved for you in heaven by the power of our triune God. Now somebody will ask, okay, but how do I actually rejoice in my suffering? I agree with you, what you're saying about the durability of the inheritance that we have in Christ, but sometimes the trials of life are just so painful in the here and now, just so utterly painful that I don't feel much like rejoicing. So how am I supposed to experience the joy of my inheritance in Christ when I'm going through such serious trials and tribulations in this world, suffering from so much pain? Well, this is a matter of perspective. And the perspective I'm referring to is the perspective of time. Notice Peter's reference to time in verse six of our sermon text. He says that we are grieved by various trials, but for a little while. For a little while, he says. And Paul wrote something very similar in 2 Corinthians 4.17, where he said that our afflictions are for a moment. Now, if we're not reading this and interpreting these statements through a biblical perspective of time, then we might actually dismiss these statements as being out of touch with reality. Or even worse, we might consider these statements to be insensitive. For how can you tell a person who's been a quadriplegic for 40 years that his afflictions are for a moment? Or how can you tell a person who has suffered under mental illness his whole life that his trial is just for a little while? But when we interpret these statements through the biblical perspective of time, there's no insensitivity in these statements. And we actually discover that they are very much in touch with the reality. They are a very truthful description of what reality is. And so what is the biblical perspective of time? Well, it's actually very simple. It's that you've been born into this world that is groaning under the curse of sin. You have a certain number of years that the Lord has ordained for you to live in this world. And if you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, then when you die, when you pass from this world, you will go on to live in glory for all eternity. That's the biblical perspective of time. And so this biblical perspective of time, in this biblical perspective, the span of your life is not just 80 or 90 years. It's eternity, right? That's the perspective here. It's not 80 or 90 years, it's eternity, which means the 80 or 90 years you suffer while living in this sin-cursed world is really and truly but a moment of your overall lifespan. Let me illustrate. Pretend you took a 25-foot tape measure and you fully extended it so that the entire tape is laying out on the ground. Let the whole length of that tape represent the span of your life. All 25 feet of that tape represents the duration, the span of your life. Now what portion of that 25 foot tape represents the 80 or 90 years you might live upon this earth? Somebody who has an unbiblical perspective of time will say all 25 feet. All 25 feet represent the 80 or 90 years. They'll say that if you live 80 or 90 years, then every year is represented by about three and a half inches on the tape measure. Now, but somebody with a, A biblical perspective of time will say that our time on this earth is represented by just one of those little thin black lines on the tape. The 80 or 90 years you might live on this earth are represented by that first little black line near the tip of the measuring tape and then everything else represents the time you live in glory. the time you live where there is no grief, no trials, no more pain or suffering. Of course, this illustration is not totally accurate because it doesn't properly depict what eternity is. We're gonna live for eternity. And to make the illustration accurate, we would need to have a measuring tape that has a beginning like you see right there, but that has no end. We need to have a measuring tape that just keeps unrolling and unrolling and unrolling and never comes to an end, no matter how far you pull, it just keeps unrolling and the numbers just keep getting higher and higher. Then you'd be able to look at that first little thin black line on the tape and say, that represents the 80 or 90 years I might live upon this earth and the rest of it represents the time I'm gonna live in glory. Does this illustration help you appreciate just how short your time on this earth is in comparison to the rest of your life? In comparison against the part you're gonna spend in glory? Brothers and sisters, our lives on this earth are but a moment when we consider the actual span of our lives. They are a blink of the eye. And Peter is calling our attention to this perspective, Peter is calling our attention to this perspective that our lives are much, much, much more than 80 or 90 years that we might spend upon this earth. And when he writes in verse six that we are grieved for a little while, he has this very perspective in mind. Or better put, he expects you to have this very perspective in mind. Peter expects you to have a biblical perspective of time so that when he tells you that you'll suffer for a little while, he's reminding you, you're reminded that there is so much more to your life than what you're going to experience during these 80 or 90 years. So much more that God has in store for you. And when Peter tells us that we can rejoice because We also know that the inheritance that we have in Christ is incorruptible, undefiled, will not fade away, and is being preserved for us by God in heaven. It's astonishing to think that we would put so much credence and credibility into the trials that we experience today. This inheritance is being preserved for us by the power of God, even during those very moments when we are grieving under the trials of this 80 or 90 years. And this is why Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4.18, we do not look at the things that are seen, but to things that are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Paul's not advocating some new age mind game where we try to convince ourselves that the pain and suffering of this present world are not real. He's simply saying the same thing that Peter has said. The experiences and circumstances of this world are real. They're very real, but they're temporary. They're fleeting. They'll only last a little while, and then we transition to living in eternal glory. As real as the sufferings of this world are, Paul says that they're not even worthy of comparison to what is in store for those who believe in Jesus Christ. They're not even worthy. Listen to what he writes in Romans 8, 18. For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And once again, Paul's not denying the reality of the sufferings of this present time. He's not trying to make the glories of the next world seem so much better by diminishing the sufferings of this present world. Rather, he's saying that the glories that we're going to experience in the next world are so much greater, that the magnitude is so much greater that the sufferings that we experience in this world are not even worthy of being compared. The two are not even worthy of comparison. Tim Keller says that our proper understanding of suffering is 50 to 70% of our proper response to suffering. Our proper understanding of suffering is 50 to 70% of our proper response to suffering. And so understand, brothers and sisters, understand that the suffering you experience over the 80 or 90 years you might live on this earth, it's very real. It's grievous. It's painful. It can be very intense. But if you took all the suffering from those 80 or 90 years, you compiled it into one quantitative thing, and then you multiplied that by a gazillion, it wouldn't compare with the magnitude and intensity of the glory that you will be experiencing in eternity. That's the point that Paul's making. There's just absolutely no comparison. And so this explains the perspective that enables us to rejoice while being grieved by various trials. But this doesn't explain why we have to experience these trials in the first place. Is there a purpose to our suffering? Is there a reason why God allows us to experience these trials for 80 or 90 years? Peter answers this question in verse seven. He says that the purpose of the trials are twofold. It's so that our faith may be proved genuine and so that our faith may be strengthened and refined. And he uses the analogy of gold being refined by fire in order to make these points. The refining process, as I'm sure you all know, removes the impurities from the gold by making, by melting it by fire, right? By heating it up, melting it, the impurities float, the impurities are removed and the gold is refined. It's more precious, it's more pure. And that's how God uses trials in our lives, Peter is saying. He allows trials to come upon us so that the impurities of sin within us are removed from us and our faith is strengthened. And through the sufferings of this world, believers grow more and more dependent upon God. Less and less dependent upon ourselves, more and more dependent upon God. Hardships teach us to walk closer to God, which means the hardships have a sanctifying effect upon us. When we walk through the refining fires of hardship and suffering, our faith is shown to be real, and we become more and more like Jesus Christ our Lord. That is if we're believers. Unbelievers, who experience the same or similar trials, who have not faith, are not refined. They do not have a sanctifying outcome. Their faith is proven not to be genuine. But for believers, it proves the genuineness of our faith, and it increases our faith. I like what one Bible commentator wrote about this. He said, when we are tried, our faith is tried. And our faith is tried because God is a goldsmith. When the goldsmith plunges gold into the fire, it's not because he hates the gold, but because he loves the gold enough to want to purify it of its dross. And when the goldsmith beats the gold, it is not because he has contempt for the gold, he has a crown in mind. A crown. And God's purposes for trials, therefore, is to fashion his children into glorious golden crowns. And Peter says that when God does this, believers grow in our faith and we grow in our praise, honor, and glory that we give to God. We see this most clearly if we read verses six and seven again and we temporarily omit the parenthetical statements that are included there. This is a very complex statement. I don't know if you noticed it when I read it, but everything is two sentences. There's so many parenthetical statements in there. So if we just momentarily remove the parenthetical statements from verses six and seven and let the main line run through, this is how it reads. You have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so we don't merely grieve and suffer while we are on this earth. We grieve and suffer in order that we will become the people who give praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And this is essentially the same thing Peter wrote in verses 12 and 13 of chapter four of the same epistle. 1 Peter 4, 12 and 13. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share in the suffering of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation. Don't think it's some strange thing that trial has come upon you. And don't forget who Peter's original audience is. He began this epistle by addressing the pilgrims of the dispersion. These are Jews and Gentile Christians who were persecuted and driven away from their homes. This epistle, therefore, was written to believers who were in the midst of suffering, and they were suffering in many different ways. And this was a suffering that was proving that their faith was true and genuine. And so Peter took the opportunity to encourage these sufferers to suffer joyfully, reminding them that it's only for a short while, and there's a point and purpose to the suffering. And this is true for us as well. This is written for us as well. It's true for us as well. We suffer trials of many colors. Some of us suffer more intensely than others. Some of us suffer longer than others. But in comparison to the eternal life we have in Christ, this suffering is but a moment. It's a short while. And during this moment, God is fashioning us into glorious golden crowns that give him praise, honor, and glory. And so there's a purpose to all this. There's a purpose to your suffering. And we should rejoice in that purpose as we rejoice in Jesus Christ. Peter wants to encourage his readers here. He knows that they're suffering, and so he calls them to rejoice in their suffering, but he also knows that this is a very difficult thing for anybody to do. And so he wants to encourage them by pointing out to them the fruit of their salvation in Christ that has already become evident in their lives. So much of what Peter is talking about has to do with the future, what God has in store, that inheritance that he has preserved for us in heaven. And so Peter, not wanting to simply make this a pie in the sky appeal, he points out to them in an encouraging manner the fruit of their salvation, which is already evident in their lives. And that fruit that he points to is their love for Jesus. Their love for Jesus. In verse eight, Peter makes the point that even though his readers have not seen Jesus, they love him. Now, Peter, of course, he was a person who has seen Jesus. Peter saw Jesus when he was baptized by John. He saw Jesus in Capernaum, curing Peter's mother-in-law of a fever. He saw Jesus walking on the sea. He saw Jesus walking on the sea, reaching out to grab Peter as Peter was about to drown. He saw the glory of Jesus when he was transfigured on the mountain. He saw Jesus in the courtyard of the high priest making eye contact with Peter as a rooster crowed. He saw Jesus resurrected in the upper room. And perhaps one of the most precious sights Peter had is of Jesus when he was sitting by the coals of the fire on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, and Jesus was asking Peter, Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these? Peter had seen Jesus, and yes, Peter loved Jesus immensely. And those who have seen Jesus, who have walked with Jesus, like Peter, may question whether their love for Jesus is in the companionship, the person, like we would have friendships with one another. There's another person there that I can talk to, that I can see, that I can hang out with. And yet, Peter makes the point here in our sermon text, as he's writing to these persecuted believers, that you've never seen Jesus. You've never hung out with him on the shore of Galilee eating fish. So you don't have to wonder what this love is that you have for him, whether it's just a buddy that you like to spend time with. No, that's not a concern for you. And yet you have this deep love for Jesus, he's telling them. You've never seen him, but you have this deep love. And Peter knows that this is an evidence that those persecuted believers had received the grace of God. and the very grace of God that grants them an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled, and will never fade away because it's preserved for them in heaven by the power of God. And so to encourage them and their ability to rejoice in their sufferings, Peter says, look, look at the love that you have for Jesus. You haven't seen him yet you love him. This is the grace of God working in you. He's fashioning you into a glorious golden crown. So be encouraged to persevere in your love. Be encouraged to persevere in your suffering. Be encouraged to persevere in your joy. Even the joy amidst the suffering. And likewise, brothers and sisters, you and I have never seen Jesus in the flesh either. We've never looked Him in the eyes. We've never watched Him heal the sick. We've never heard Him preach a sermon from a mount. We've never touched the hem of His garment. We've never eaten fish with Him. We've never smelled the fragrant oil that was poured on His feet. We've never sat at the table and sang a psalm with Him. yet you love him. Like those believers Peter's writing to, you love the Lord Jesus, and this should be an encouragement to you, that the grace of God has been given to you specifically, that the fruit of that grace is already evident and bearing fruit in your life, and that you have an inheritance that's reserved for you in heaven, that the suffering you're experiencing on this earth is but for a moment, and that your joy can never be taken away, never, because it's established, not in anything upon this earth, but it's established in the one who was born in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This has been a presentation of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. For more resources and information, please stop by our website at visitredeemer.org. All material herewithin, unless otherwise noted. Copyright Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Elk Grove, California. Music furnished by Nathan Clark George. Available at nathanclarkgeorge.com.